Homilies on Ephesians
Argument
Ephesus is the chief city of Asia. It was dedicated to Artemis, whom the people there worshiped above all as their great goddess. So great, in fact, was the superstition of her worshipers that when her temple was burned down, they would not so much as make known the name of the man who burned it. The blessed John the Evangelist spent most of his time there. He was there when he was banished, and there he died. It was there too that Paul left Timothy, as he says in writing to him: “As I urged you to stay on at Ephesus” (First Timothy 1, verse 3).
Most of the philosophers were there as well, especially those who flourished in Asia. Even Pythagoras himself is said to have come from there, perhaps because Samos, where he really came from, is an island of Ionia. It was also a gathering place for the disciples of Parmenides, and of Zeno, and of Democritus, and even to this day you can see a number of philosophers there.
I mention these facts not merely for their own sake, but to show that Paul had to take great care and trouble in writing to these Ephesians. In fact, it is said that he entrusted to them his deepest ideas, since they were people already well taught; and the letter itself is full of lofty thoughts and teachings.
He wrote the letter from Rome, and in chains, as he tells us himself: “Pray for me, that words may be given to me when I open my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the good news, for which I am an ambassador in chains” (Ephesians 6, verse 19).
The letter is full of thoughts of overwhelming height and grandeur. Things he hardly so much as utters anywhere else, he declares plainly here. For example, he says, “So that now the many-sided wisdom of God might be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3, verse 10). And again: “He raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in heavenly places” (Ephesians 2, verse 6). And again: “Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and sharers together in the promise in Christ” (Ephesians 3, verse 5).